August's Sermons

Church Period: Pentecost 10th Sunday After
Sermon Title: Choosing The Really Important In Life
Sermon Date: August 16, 1987
Rev. August Hauptman
Sermon Text: Matthew 13:44-52

Dear Christian friends:

We all decide what is important in our life. Some people decide that money is the most important thing in their life. Others decide that power and high position is most important. Others decide that they don't want responsibility and seek to have an easy, comfortable life. What is most important in your life? Have you chosen the best things? Maybe what you have chosen is not really important. In our text God offers His wisdom and guidance to help us choose the really important things and He gives us the power to live according to the wise choices we make.

Choosing The Really Important In Life

We need God's wisdom and guidance to choose what is really important in life, because if we choose we will make a big mistake and choose what can destroy us here on earth and forever in hell. (verses 49-50) Satan and the unbelievers in the world tempt us to choose false and bad values such as riches, sinful pleasures, and high position. If these things are most important in our life we will tell lies, cheat, steal and kill to get them, as we see many people doing today in the world around us. Then we will be like the bad fish in the net which the fishermen threw away. (verses 47-48)

Also mans sinful nature leads him to choose unimportant and even evil things and neglect the really important things in life. Man's pride, greed, and jealousy leads him to choose the bad and unimportant things instead of the real treasure the pearl of great beauty. (Ephesians 2:1-3) If we ourselves choose we will always choose what is not important and what is evil. We need God's wisdom and guidance choose the really important things in life.

We find God's wisdom and guidance in His Word in the Bible. In Psalm 119:9, David asks a very important question: "How can a young man make clean his way? Then David answers, "By attending to Your Word, O Lord. With my whole heart I have searched for You; O let me not wander from your commandments. Your Word I have hid in my heart, that I cannot sin against You." (verses 10-11)

The books of men and words of men often lead the young people to choose unimportant and sinful things and ways or styles of life. Today we have the gay society and those who advocate sexual freedom, which means adultery and sins against the Sixth Commandment. How can a young person today escape these evil influences? By seeking God's wisdom and guidance in His Word, like David did long ago.

In His Word, the Bible, God tells us what the real treasure is, what is really important in life. In our text it is called a "box filled with riches" (verse 44) and "the expensive, perfect pearl." (verse 46) What is this expensive, perfect pearl? This perfect pearl is that we seek to love God and our neighbor. The most important thing in life is to be a good and holy person, Jesus says, "Don't worry about what you will eat or about what you will wear. (For these things the unbelievers worry and worry. Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things and will give them unto you.) But you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, (Matthew 6:31-33) Knowing God and His Commandments that is the most important thing in life. Not riches, pleasures or high office, but doing right is most important. That's what God's wisdom teaches us.

But can we do what is right? We perhaps know what is important but do we have the power to choose that? We ourselves alone do not have the power to choose this most important thing, but God offers us that power so that we can choose His values. By the saving work of Jesus, God destroys the power of our sinful hearts or flesh (Romans 6). Paul says, "Should we continue sinning when we don't have to? Because sins power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through His death the power of your sinful nature was shattered. Your old sin-loving nature was buried with Him by baptism when He died, and when God the Father, with glorious power, brought Him back to life again, you were given His wonderful new life to enjoy."

In Jesus, God gives us the Holy Spirit, so that now we really love God and want to do what is good and right. We love God because He first loved us and sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins. True, our old sinful heart continues to fight against the new heart which God has given to us in Jesus. But our new heart and spirit can win over the old sinful heart. Paul says, "Now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no more obey the old evil nature within us. Those who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that please God." (Romans 8:4-5)

Therefore we Christians are happy blessed people. We do not stumble like the unbelievers in the world who choose worthless and sinful things and love the pearl. We know what is really important in life and we have the power to choose that and live for that. We have the expensive, perfect pearl and will give up all other unimportant and evil things that we may keep and have this precious pearl forever.

Amen.